Page:Newspaper writing and editing.djvu/274

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marks at the beginning of each paragraph of a continuous quotation and at the end of only the last paragraph.

Following the "Style Book." As each newspaper has its peculiar "style," so-called, the copy-reader must learn the rules set forth in the "style book" which his newspaper prints for the guidance of its reporters, editors, copy-readers, and compositors. These rules have to do with capitalization, abbreviation, hyphenation, punctuation, use of numerical figures, and also with the use of certain words and phrases. The form and size of each kind of headline and the number or letter by which it is to be designated in the copy, are sometimes included in the style book. Every newspaper office has its own method of designating the heads, either by number or letter, whether or not the method is printed in the style book. Almost every style book has a long or short list of "Don'ts," which includes common errors to be avoided and frequently those words and phrases that are pet aversions of the editor-in-chief or of the managing editor.

How the Copy-Reader Works. In all this work of the copy-reader the important element is speed. Every minute is valuable in the newspaper office, and only those who can work rapidly as well as accurately can expect to hold a position long. To rearrange, to reconstruct, to correct, rather than to rewrite, and to do this quickly and skillfully, is the real work of the copy-reader. To putter over details is an inexcusable fault. The combination of speed and accuracy in a copy-reader is the ideal of the editor.

On large newspapers under the plan of having all news copy read at one desk by copy-readers under the direction of a head copy-reader, every news story goes to the head copy-reader, who, after deciding on its value, determines how much space it is worth and what